Supply Drop System

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Today I wanted to talk about the implementation of the Supply Drop system. The first version of this system has been implemented into the game already and will be available in Closed Alpha.

Introduction

During stress testing we faced some issues with players congregating mostly around Redsville city, while this is fine - I would like to encourage players to move around the map. Supply drops being one of many elements encouraging movement around the map.

Spawning

The Supply Drop can spawn randomly on the map, the system quickly scans the ground where it is attempting to drop to check if it's landing on the ground and has enough space to land. This should prevent drops landing in trees, on buildings, etc. There would be no worse feeling than walking across the map and not being able to get that sweet loot.

When spawned, there is an Icon which displays on the map, indicating the location of the supply drop. This makes it easy for players to quickly decide whether or not they want to travel to the supply drop. Players in the server are also notified via a sound & pop-up on the screen. It also spawns relatively high in the air and can been seen from far distances.

A supply drop will spawn every 40 minutes, but this may change to a random number between 30-60 minutes to make them a little less predictable. If a supply drop has not been opened it will de-spawn after a specific amount of time (30 minutes or so).

The Loot

The loot inside the supply drops is definitely worth the travel time. Below are just some of the loot currently dropped in supply drops.

AK-47 (Only dropped by Air Drops & "Boss Robot")

L96-A1 (Sniper) (Only dropped by Air Drops & "Boss Robot")

Armour (Helmets & Chest)

Ammo

Medical Supplies

Explosives

For items such as medical supplies I have increased the quantity, so you will find a number of these - rather than just 1.

Loot that is inside the supply drops could be changed at any time - so this could be useful for events, rotating the loot to keep them interesting.

Hopefully the introduction of the supply drop system will encourage players to move around the map more and create some very interesting combat situations.

I hope you enjoyed this development blog - I will be doing more as development continues. Let me know what you think about the new supply drop system!